ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,297,870, issued on May 13, was assigned to DAIDO METAL COMPANY LTD. (Nagoya, Japan).
"Half thrust bearing" was invented by Seiji Sano (Inuyama, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A half thrust bearing includes a slide surface which includes: at least two oil grooves extending in a radial direction; a plurality of pad surfaces located on both sides of each oil groove in a circumferential direction; and at least two first inclined surfaces each formed between the oil groove and the pad surface on a front side of the oil groove in a rotation direction of a crankshaft. A plurality of circumferential grooves are formed in succession in the ...